On the one hand...

You’re glad you live in Sleepyville, where most calamities are rare and natural. Your Tuesday is as predictable as your Monday or Wednesday. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, coffee’s brewing, you received a dinner invitation, your family’s visiting, you know people from Bombay but nobody in Bombay, and everything’s all right in your world.

On the other hand…

You devour news reports and feel useless that you’re sitting warm and dry in front of a computer terminal. You feel roused to action and want to sign up as a Red Cross volunteer - you should be donating blood or on the streets helping victims. You should've been a reporter writing meaningful stories that touch people’s hearts, instead of churning our corporate crap. You hope Hindu-Muslim riots don’t break out and that it stops raining.

You feel pathetic that all you can do is link to a Web site and thank god that your family’s safe and sound.